In Crubling Stone
by Mayor Olive
Summary: In the Battle City finals, Ishizu's Millennium Tauk showed her a vision of defeating Seto Kaiba in their match. What if Seto had not changed the future? What's there to do when fate is not on your side?


"Can Seto really lose like this?" Anzu asked. Yami Yugi frowned. Seto had never believed in fate, but would that be his downfall? Even Jounouchi, who hoped to beat Seto himself, almost didn't want to see him defeated like this.

In fact, it almost seemed unfair that Seto's only losses as a duelist seemed to be at the hands of someone with an unfair advantage: Pegasus with his Millennium Eye and now Ishizu her her Millenium Tauk, both predicted his every move and overpowered the strategies that would leave an ordinary duelist trembling. Even his first match with Yugi, who had not cheated, had ended in a loss because of the darkness in his own soul. It was no secret that Seto was simply an extraordinary duelist, and under normal circumstances would be undefeatable. At the moment, however, his future looked bleak: no monsters on his side of the field, yet two for Ishizu.

The arena was tense. Seto knew that his strategy should have been perfect. Yet somehow, this mysterious woman had read his mind and foreseen the perfect counter. She had not flinched when his combo rendered the majority of her deck useless; in fact, she used it to in turn reduce his own deck to nothing. Only Marik, the horrifying caricature of Ishizu's brother, was enjoying himself. He was looking forward to seeing the prodigy lose to the same tricks that had defeated his human self as a child.

It was Ishizu's turn. She drew, and wordlessly summoned her third monster to the field. This was what Seto had been waiting for, but would his plan work?

"Activate Cross Sacrifice!" Seto shouted, and Ishizu didn't bat an eye. Did she really expect him to do this? Seto had long ago forced his self-doubt deep down inside himself, but even as Ishizu's three monsters vanished, he felt a hot nervousness in his stomach. "Obelisk, rise!"

The giant now appeared behind Seto, and with the towering figure on his side his confidence began to return. How could he possibly lose with God on his side?

"OBELISK, ATTACK!" Seto commanded. Yet even as he said those words, the doubt returned. He had the sinking feeling of falling into a trap, but what other choice did he have? Marik leaned against the railing of the ship, enjoying the duel.

Silence. That's how everyone present knew that something was not right. Obelisk should have launched its attack, destroying that last of Ishizu's life points. But nothing happened.

Then, over the whistling wind, there was a cracking noise. Seto, knowing where it must be coming from, turned around slowly to face Obelisk. In fact, Obelisk seemed to be cracking along its blue stone exterior.

Ishizu closed her eyes grimly. She did not want to defeat Seto by using the Tauk; she got no joy from defeating this man, but what else could she do to save her brother?

The spectators gasped. Seto was frozen.

Then, slowly, Obelisk began to crumble right before everyone's eyes. How could God fall to an ordinary duelist?

Seto then saw the pulsing light inside Obelisk's deteriorating chest. "A bomb?" he muttered, realizing too late that Ishizu had indeed trapped him. By sacrificing her monsters, he had played exactly into her hands.

Seto barely even registered the explosion.

The onlookers shielded their eyes. "NII-SAMA!" Mokuba shouted. He tried to scramble up to the platform, but could not reach high enough to grab hold of the raised field.

As the bomb inside of Obelisk detonated, the force of the explosion overpowered Seto. It lifted him off his feet and threw him forward, like a rag doll. Jounouchi watched through squinted eyes, horrified. Even with his contempt for Seto, something about seeing him like this just felt wrong. Seto hit the ground a few feet in front of Ishizu.

He didn't move.

When Obelisk was destroyed, its attack points were deducted from Seto's life points, dropping them to zero.

"The winner…Ishizu Ishtar!" Isono shouted weakly, not taking his eyes off of his boss. Ishizu finally opened her eyes and looked at the unmoving figure before her. It seemed Seto had not thrown out his arms before landing. She couldn't tell if the blast had knocked him unconscious, or if he simply decided not to protect himself.

The field lowered and Mokuba ran to his brother, sobbing. Seto still didn't move. Marik chuckled quietly to himself as he headed towards the elevator. Yugi, Jounouchi, and the others watched Seto, unsure how to react. When Bakura had been injured during his duel they had all rushed towards him immediately, but Yugi sensed Seto would not have wanted that. They watched Mokuba, desperately shaking his older brother's shoulders to wake him, as Ishizu knelt down in front of her defeated opponent and said something that Yugi could not hear. However, he noticed that she did not take Obelisk from his deck. She backed away and slowly walked to the elevator.

It could have been hours that everyone stood, frozen except for Mokuba and Isono (who appeared to be communicating with someone over the radio). The cold wind rushed around them, Mokuba's desperate shouting still audible over the roar.

Finally, Mokuba's cries must have reached Seto, and he raised his head. Mokuba ordered Isono to help his brother to his feet, and Yugi was surprised to see that Seto, a man with seemingly infinite pride, did not protest. When Seto was standing, Yugi heard Anzu gasp- Seto's face had been scraped, two black eyes already visible, and blood dripping down his cheek. No one had ever seen him in this state before. Mokuba did not seem to remember that there had been a crowd, and he grabbed his brother's hand tightly as Isono began to half-carry Seto to the elevator. Yugi was forcefully reminded of the time Pegasus' servants had dragged Seto's soulless body off the dueling area. Though his soul was presently inside of his body, Seto still appeared to be without any desire to move his body independently. Mokuba, Seto, and Isono too entered the elevator and departed.

No one spoke after the door closed. Jounouchi had previously joked about his desire to see Seto lose, but he too was lost for words. After what seemed like enough time to allow the elevator to reach its destination, Yugi, Anzu, Jounouchi, Otogi, and Honda left the frigid deck. After a while, Honda and Otogi began speaking quietly, but Yugi was lost in thought and didn't listen.

In defeating Seto, Ishizu had not taken Seto's soul, but his pride. The gifted duelist had not fallen because his opponent had more skill, but because she had the magic that Seto detested on her side. Yugi felt that Seto could deal with a loss, if it had been brought on by a better strategy by his opponent. But the idea that there were certain things that he simply could not defeat, like fate or magic, was too much for him to handle.

Seto Kaiba, a man who built his entire career around pride and sheer skill, would not be able to accept the idea that magic, a force he refused to acknowledge, would defeat him every time. He had always been widely regarded as the best because of his intelligence and perseverance, but it remained that without the supernatural, he simply would not be good enough.

Seto Kaiba had been defeated in more way that one tonight.


End file.
